


Mountain Mother

by lirulin



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Avvar Inquisitor, F/F, Found Family, Gen, Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 07:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20170300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lirulin/pseuds/lirulin
Summary: Sera's perspective on an Avvar Inquisitor.





	1. Eydis

**Author's Note:**

> A gen fill done an age ago for the Kink Meme that was never archived. (https://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/13275.html?thread=51052251#t51052251). Told from Sera's Perspective. It was intended to be longer and have chapters with the Avvar Inquisitor's child, but I am fairly certain I have lost those. I may give this a go after I finish archiving and wrapping up the ones I have inspiration for.
> 
> Text is as close as possible to the original (some italics may be misplaced or missing), otherwise no edits made because editing fics written four years ago is maddness. Original prompt text at the end.

The Herald was weird, yeah? Sera wasn't usually big on agreein' with nobs and the like, but even a broken clock was right twice a day.

She was--_whoof_\--there weren't words, not proper ones anyway, not when it came to women who stood head and shoulders over templars and dressed in mud an' rabbit furs. Sera’d done a double take when they met, nearly dropped her bow right beside her jaw, but the Herald didn't take it personally. 

Didn't seem to take much of anything personal, that one.

She was like a force of nature. Painted herself up in woad and white, used big fuckin' swords and weird Avvar magicy shite, and never seemed to mind when she caught herself on fire. (Just put it out, she says, like that's _normal_. ...Well, normal for _normal people._) She could have used the Iron Bull as an armrest, built like a mountain, that woman--Sera could have sworn she saw her pick up Cullen once just for shits an' giggles. But for how big and scary the Herald was, towering above everybody all the time, half covered in mud an' such, her smile was big too, and nobody that laughed that deep and loud could be a total arsehole. 

It was like a rule, right? Belly laughs were for good guys only.

Her name was _Eydis Ulfdottir_, Augur of the Highlands or something' fancy and nonsense sounding, and buggered if anybody but Varric could actually say that straight. Avvar put their words together like most people mixed gravel, just chucked whatever in bucket, shook it up, and dumped the lot out at once, there was no sense to it. Worst part? Always knew you got her name wrong, see, because she'd clap you right across the back and laugh that big booming laugh of hers as she repeated it for you. Should have been off-putting, that, but the Herald knew how big she was. Never hurt when she jostled a person, or when she laughed, cause she was always doin' it with you, never at. 

One time she knocked that tit Solas over, only time she knocked anybody over that Sera knew of, an' she fussed over him till he was red all the way to his bald elfy head. She'd never seen anything so funny as him all flustered and flappin' his hands to get her to leave off, but Sera knew better than to laugh. Laughing at something like that would put her straight in the Herald's bad books and, Andraste's shiny ass, she didn't want to be anywhere near those. 

The Herald was a weird one, that was for sure, the Avvar must've been off their tit, the lot of them, but for all her weirdy..._weirdness_, Sera liked her. Everyone liked her, and not just because she was big enough to put the fear of the Maker into most of them . She was a solid warrior, if she spent her weekends wrestlin' bears, Sera wouldn't have been surprised, but it was more than all that. She was...it was hard to say what....

She was _nice._

Nothing got to the Herald and there was something about that, something that made it harder for things to get to everyone else. Only thing that had ever thrown her was something that big Skywatchin' bloke said while they were slogging through the Fallow Mire. Sera couldn't say her whole name right, not on her life, but even she knew that guy had said something wrong, called her something else, and Herald'd seemed put out as all hell. _Eydis Andrastehond_ or somethin', had Lowlands in there and that had to be an insult, yeah? She didn't know what it meant, but it stuck with the Herald, made her uncomfortable, and Sera'd been tempted to put an arrow in that guy's bum for the trouble. 

Herald forgot it fast enough, or at least she moved on, but Sera remembered.

A lot of people didn't get it, why names were important, why getting them right mattered as much as getting them wrong, but Sera did. There was a reason she practiced with Varric till she could say the Herald's name without sounding like she was garglin it, same as how she never bothered to learn how Coryfetits went; names mattered.

And man, Coryphywhatsit, that had been a bad day to end all bad days. Yeah, they'd closed the breach, and that had been great, even with all the mages kicking around before and after, but it went to tits up faster than any day Sera had ever had. (And that was saying something seeing how she remembered the Blight.) 

The Herald got everyone in, because of course she did, it was what she did. 

She kicked down doors and shoved over burning buildings like they weren't a thing; the cute barmaid had actually started crying she'd been so happy to see her. Eydis sent her off with a gentle pat on the cheek and a firm word and she'd done as told, got herself to the Chantry right quick. They followed after, but not until the Herald had got everyone out who could be got.

In the Chantry that weird arsehole who'd banged at the gates started babbling about how they were here for her and Cullen told them _all about_ how the situation was going straight to shit. That Roderick twat, Maker rest him, knew the way out and he spilled, but not before the Herald made up her mind about how to keep everyone safe as she wanted. She took Bull and Cassandra and Solas, and Sera had to watch as she pushed out the Chantry doors to fight a friggin archdemon. _A frigging archdemon._

She wasn't smiling then.

Of course, Sera knew the Herald wouldn't let some bullshit ex-templar and his darkspawn buttbuddy take her down; Herald was a mountain, she spat storms and punched earthquakes right in the gob. Bet she'd even wrestled that dragon to the ground before the avalanche...probably just shoved off the boulders and strolled on out, easy as you like. Took Bull and Cullen working together to haul her off that mountain when they found her, but Sera knew she'd be back, she knew it. 

Yeah, okay, she may have worried a little. Dumb, right? Yeah. Anyway, Sera sat by her bed while she was sleeping off all the dragon wrestling and darkspawn dickpunching she'd done. Herald was fine, she just took up the spot so that Orlesian Chantry Mother would leave off. Nobody wanted to wake up to a preacher by their bed, not even weird Avvary people. But she wasn't worried, she'd known the Herald would come back.

_Called it._

Eydis looked different without the mud and fur. Had to wash it off to make sure some asshole hadn't shoved a dagger in her side as a parting gift. Wasn't like they'd scrubbed her raw or stared up her private bits, but it was still uncomfortable, felt like they'd took off part of her skin. She looked weird without the blue and white all on her face. Not bad weird, she wasn't burned up or mangled or nothing, but okay-weird, different-weird. 

She was pretty. 

No, pretty was a shite word. It was the sort of thing you called the giggly barmaid or the Antivian ambassador; pretty was too soft and frilly to apply to the Herald. Handsome was...yuck, but beautiful...thinking about that too long got in a person's chest, made it all fluttery and squirmy. No good, that.

She was nice.

Her hair was brown. Wasn't just the leftover mud and mountain. It stayed brown when they washed it out, mostly, except for the parts that weren't. She had stripes, sort of. There were chunks of grey scattered through the lot of it and they went all the way down her great big Avvar battle-braid, or whatever you called the rope of hair the Herald had. 

She had freckles too, the kind a person gets when they spend years outside, spots of dark and light, all across her cheeks and forehead. There were lines on her face, not many, but they were there. Had some deep ones at her eyes and long ones around her mouth--big smile like hers would have to leave a mark someplace, so that made sense. She even had tattoos, honest battle-y tattoos, not like that poison ink shit Bull took on and off. They were tribal, but not like the Dalish and their curly wavy line bullshit. Looked like she had bear paws on her shoulders and big blue splotches and such everywhere else. Probably made a pattern, under all that blue and mud, but thinking too hard about that would give a person problems.

Her tattoos weren't new, weren't healing up or nothing, but they sure weren't old. 

Herald wasn't old so they couldn't be either, yeah?

Hard to see why she'd cover them up with mud like she did, seemed like the sort of thing a person would want to show off, but the Herald did things the way she did for a reason. Might've been a weird ass Avvar reason, but still a reason.

She hadn't seemed happy when she woke up. That was unsettling. Her face looked wrong when it was like that, all unhappy and tired. Sera tried to cheer her up but that went sideways. She was no good at that sort of thing, and before she could shove any more than her foot in her mouth, she'd left the Herald to her business--yeah, okay, she ran away, but only a little. Mother Giselle swooped in the moment she could and, while the Herald was big on bar songs, she didn't seem so big on hymns. Couldn't much blame her for that one; inspiring songs were great and all, but not when they were sung at a person like they expected you delivered on them.

When it all finished, Solas tried to sidle up to her, but she brushed past him. He was thrown for a loop, stunned that she'd blown him off; Sera thought he might have a tantrum, maybe his head would pop. Course the Herald didn't do it mean, she'd done it all kind and gentle, whispering something quiet to him and squeezing his shoulder. He didn't even flinch when she actually patted his cheek--well, didn't pat it so much as hold it for a moment before she walked off, but same difference, right? Either way, elfy and the rest got ignored and Herald got some quiet.

She walked off, not far, but far enough that everything was thrown in dark. She was just far enough away that the campfires couldn't light her up. Sera watched her and, yeah, she was hiding even if she wasn't exactly trying to hide. She stayed between the tents on the edge of camp, not quite apart, not quite where she ought to be, and her fingers itched with nervous energy. She picked at them idly as she watched the Herald standing alone, naked in the snow. Not really naked-naked, but it seemed like it without all the...stuff she wore. Made her seem smaller, like she was less.

It wasn't right that she seemed like less, not after all she did.

She turned her face up to the sky. It wasn't much of a sight. The snow had stopped when she came back, like the sky decided to keep it down in case she woke up from her nap, and if Sera squinted, she could just make out stars behind the hazy clouds. The Herald wasn't looking at the stars, though, or waiting for snow. She was just standing there with her eyes shut and hands at her sides, spread out--what was she doing? A cold breeze cut past Sera and, while her whole body shivered, it didn't bother the Herald a bit.

She wasn't a mountain, not like when she was all painted up with a weapon, but she definitely belonged out here. She wasn't one of them but the mountains...it was like they knew she fit here, that she was the sort of person who came from them. Not like dwarves--no mountain would ever take a look at Varric and say "yeah, that's the guy", not unless it were talking to the citywatch about some shit he pulled--not that mountains could _look at_ or _say things_\--_Maker’s balls_, she was losing it. All this doom and gloom was rattling her brains. She knew mountains couldn't talk, or like a person, or dislike a person, they were just big rocks, yeah? But...longer she looked at the Herald...well....

The less sure Sera was that the Herald was _Of Andraste_.

Of course all that Avvar bunk was bullshit, same as the Dalish and the Tevinters. Couldn’t have all of them be real and true and still believe in Andraste, it was either or and the Maker, that was where Sera's chips rested. Couldn't have Korth and Mythal and Uruthemiwhatever and still have the Maker be true, world didn't work that way, but...maybe…_Maybe_ mountains _could_ like a person. Maybe it was like luck. Nothing divine about it but, well, she had pulled off a few ridiculous shots, flipped off some really fucking stupid roofs, and she always made it. If she was lucky like that, maybe the Herald was lucky like this, whatever this was. If this was anything--shite, she could just be standing and taking a breath. 

If anybody needed it, yeah?

She was being stupid, creeping and watching while the Herald had some private time to herself. Sera swallowed the squirrely feeling that came with that thought and it settled like a knot in her chest, hard and uncomfortable just below her throat. She pushed up, made to actually give the Herald some peace--even friggin Solas had given her that--but behind her the camp was all religious talk and stalled arguments. Listening to all that was unappealing enough that she hesitated and, when she did, she caught a sound she probably shouldn't have heard.

Eydis Ulfdottir sang loud, Sera knew that much about her. Whoever's Herald she was or wasn't, the woman could belt bar songs like she was the one who invented them. She'd never joined in with hymnals (couldn't much blame her), or anything soft-like, though, so Sera had a hard time believing her ears...but there it was. She couldn't quite hear her, not from so far off and, despite the knot that burned in her chest, she couldn't resist creeping closer. Just close enough to hear, not to bug her.

She didn't know the words. They were all Avvar-ish, nothing but rolling sounds and weird stops that her tongue couldn't quite keep up with, but they sounded very different when they was sung, or maybe just when they were sung soft. Didn't sound like rocks sliding into a fancy party when they were soft, almost sounded _pretty._ Whatever she was saying, it wasn't happy, even Sera could figure that one out. The song had the beat of something regular. It was all short bars and quick words, mostly just a poem. It was the kind of song that people, real people, sang on their own. It wasn't anything as fancy as a hymnal, at least Sera didn't think it was, and the closer she snuck, the slower Eydis sang it. Before she realized it, Sera had practically walked up beside her. When the song ended and it was dead quiet again. She was stuck, couldn't just walk off, and so she stood there. 

Eydis turned and looked right at her.

"Sad song," Sera blurted, not unsympathetically but definitely without anything as useful as tact. The Avvar woman stared down at her, all kind eyes and glumness, like she was waiting for Sera to ask for something and didn't want to rush her. All at once, Sera decided she had to cheer her up. "Still, beats the one about the dawn, yeah?"

Her smile was crooked and, fuck, probably more than a bit besotted, but she put it on as she moved up beside Eydis.

"Didn't know there'd be this much singing when I signed up, but I know one about this _Raider from Jader_ if I _have_ to."

The woman beside her laughed, bright and deep, and the smile that split her face was fond. Sera was sure she went red as her dress but, yeah, so what, she made the Herald happier. Fair trade. Cold made people's faces pink all the time, wasn't a big deal. The Avvar woman took a big, deep breath and let it out through her nose. Her breath curled in the cold.

"Was a dirge I was singing," she said, plain as all that. She wasn't embarrassed or mad at being caught, hadn't even been hiding it, and Sera paid absolute attention as she spoke. "I should have sang it sooner, but I think the sky forgives me."

"Dirge?" Sera asked. She wasn't sure how the sky forgave people but she'd gotten mostly used to hearing that sort of babble from the Herald.

"Aye." 

And that was all the lady Herald said on the subject. Sera was curious because she didn't know half as much about the Herald as she'd have liked, but she let it go. Some people needed less questions and more quiet. She'd put a sovereign down that, right now, the Herald was one of them. They stood in silence for a moment before the Avvar shot her a strange, calculating look.

"Wot?" Sera asked as the woman leaned closer, peering at her like she was something strange, clever, and brilliant. After a moment or two, Sera’s face was so hot she was surprised she wasn't steaming in the cold.

"Will you trust me?" she asked, her Avvar accent thick like wool over her words. If anybody’d told her how much she’d like the sound of mountain-men-speak, that a few long vowels and random slurry dips would turn her knees weak, she’d have laughed right in their face as she told them to jog on. Now, despite the weird gleam in the Herald’s eyes, Sera could only nod. She almost jumped as the Herald's hands came down and settled firmly on her shoulders. Her heart was racing against her ribs, all a’flutter in her chest, and she stared down the Herald as those big hands pinned her in place. "Close your eyes."

Sera swallowed but followed the command; couldn't do much besides that. The hands on her shoulders urged her to turn and, confused, she did as the Herald wanted. It wasn't until the woman had turned her once and twice full around that she realized what was happening--sort of, nobody could figure out what was happening all the time, not with Avvar wierdness abound. Sera's legs, unfortunately, were more cooperative than she would have liked and once they got the rythym of the thing, she was spinning fast enough to make her head swim. 

All at once the Herald's hands let her go and Sera stumbled. She opened her eyes, dizzy and blinking into the dark; the sky heaved and she fell with a graceless 'oof' onto the thick snow. She wasn't hurt but she still glared daggers up at the Herald...up near the Herald. Aiming was hard with the ground lurching. She'd glare daggers at her when everything stopped spinning, yeah?

"I thought so," Eydis announced loudly, some of her happy boom back in her belly, with a smile in her voice.

"What's the big idea?" Sera snapped and made a rude gesture at everything above her--aboveish, at least. She would have bitched about it more but words were risky while her dinner kept trying to come up. Eydis took her hand, rude gesture and all, and hauled the elf to her feet. Sera's anger floundered as the woman brushed snow off her and, by the time she was put right and the Herald had brushed a hand over most bits of her, she was full on flustered again. Eydis smiled at her, all up close and personal, and Sera squeaked in protest as the woman lifted her bodily, up off the ground, into a hug.

"Thank you little elf friend," Eydis said with a sincerity that didn't quite work with a phrase that ridiculous. Should have been offended, she weren't all that little and elfyness wasn't involved, but there was something about dumb Avvar phrases like that, they were always too friendly to get mad over 'em. "I wasn't certain but you showed me the way--we go North."

Fuck it all, the Herald had spun her like a top to see which way she tumbled? Woman was completely stark raving loony. The Herald was weird, too weird, but it was impossible to be all pressed up on her, staring at that big Avvar smile, and not be a little overwhelmed.


	2. Sioni

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Herald's child arrives in Skyhold and Sera is given a task. This update includes all the writing that I had in reserve after the original story went up. The chapter is shorter than the first because of that. After this all content will be newly written.

Inquisitor. 

Sera rolled the word over and tried to figure if it was actually better than calling Eydis the Herald. It fit about the same, like the word wasn’t quite big enough; it wasn’t the right shape for the person they tried to fit it on. Clashed, right? Like a trumpet in one of those fancy Orlesian string quartets. Everybody knew it was wrong but, seeing how they couldn’t kick the trumpet out of the band cause it was the only one who could close rifts and shite’, they just kept on playing.

A few people tried other things. Blackwall liked to call her ‘My Lady’ but that was the sort of parp that required a big bushy beard and a Chevalier’s bow to go with. Dorian had gone and tried _Andrastehond_, like he was being funny. Maker knew where he heard that from, but it went over ‘bout as well as arson; she’d been put out for a whole day and Dorian's been shamefaced about it since. Solas called her some elfy shite that didn’t mean nothing to anybody, Bull called her Bosslady, and Vivienne muttered a bitchy ‘my dear’ like she did with everybody else.

There weren’t a lot of options, either more or less formal than her first name, that didn’t make you sound like a right tit. Sera felt like she’d nailed it with ‘Her Gracious Ladybits’, especially when Eydis laughed and smiled at her, but that was the sort of nickname you had to save up for special occasions. Couldn't wear it out or it wouldn't be fun at parties.

Nice as she was, Sera still didn’t know enough to give her a real and personal sort of nickname, the kind that friends deserved. She tried to learn more about her, but sneaking around only got a person so far (assuming they were trying _not_ to be an arse and just dig around through all her stuff while she weren't watching). 

Sera was trying really hard not to be an arse.

If anybody asked why--why learn more, why be all civilized and sweet about it, why bother bein' chummy--well she’d snort at them and ask if they’d seen the ‘Quiz? How could anybody in their right mind not be interested in all that? It was true but it felt grimy when she said it. And, Andraste’s ass, she never said it where Eydis could hear her. It was the easy answer, okay, and the answer that didn’t make her feel grimy was...well it was none of their business, nobody’s business, so they could stuff it.

Skyhold was okay. 

It was better than Haven by a few hundred sovereigns, no matter how you tallied it. It was a real fortress, all stone and battlements and proper gatehouses with proper guards. Skyhold was safe; an army of darkspawn and templars wouldn’t be able to beat the walls down if they had hammers and a hundred years. Made it comfortable, but uncomfortable in a way, like she was trapped in a cage but safe from the shit prowling around outside.

Fucking shite, why was everything with the Heraldquisitor like this? Half and half, too big to deal with and too big to ignore, all the same? Could drive a person up the wall if they weren’t careful, and there was a lot of wall in this new fortress, tons and tons of it.

Fortunately, Skyhold also had air when you needed a breath, had lots and lots of it, miles and miles. Ugh--nothing halfway, not when Her Gracious Ladybits was involved.

Sera tried not to think too hard about everything, tried not to think about anything at all if she could pull that off, but the only time she managed was in the hazy times before dawn. Could be she only managed because she was half asleep, yeah, but she liked being awake before everybody sometimes. 

She wasn’t a morning person, not like other people were. Cassandra could pop out of bed and punch a dragon into submission, Blackwall was the sort who woke and whistled while they went to work swinging and chopping and hauling shite, but Sera just liked how everything _was_ in the early. Everything was where it ought to be, peaceful and cozy. Nobody was beating down on anybody else, nobody suffering or hustling, it was empty. Everything just dreary but in a nice way, with the promise of energy and action once the sun got up all the way. 

Well normally, yeah? Turned out, surprise-surprise, weren’t many normal mornings in a sky-castle with the Quiz around. Sometimes she could get in a few pranks if she woke up fast enough, before anybody noticed she was doing something and decided to go _keep eyes on her_. 

Tch--as if, right? 

But there were plenty round this place didn’t so much sleep as...never slept. See their spymaster? Never. Not once. The idea of her closing her eyes was daft, much less imagining her kicking off her boots and cuddling up in bed. Sometimes, probably just to mess with her, Leliana’d just appear out of nothing with a friendly how’d’you’do and then: poof, gone again. People like that didn't sleep--no, they _waited_.

Speaking of, Sera hadn’t seen her in a few days. She'd been keepin' an eye out, watching for her round corners, but the waiting was making her twitchy. Sera figured she was gonna pop out of something, drop down from somewhere maybe, and scare her halfway to the grave, make her shriek like a little kid--it’s what Sera’d do. Unfortunately, weren’t a way to check in on Leliana like there was the Heraldness. Well, not one Sera was willing to try without a good run-up, anyways. 

So the last thing she expected was to just _see_ the spymaster walking through the courtyard, easy as you please.

At first, Sera wasn’t sure it even was Leliana, yeah? She had on this long, plain cloak and exactly none of her spooky spymaster armor. Got used to the jingle of chainmail when you spotted her, without it she was quiet, creepy quiet. The sight was weird and, hazy and half-asleep as Sera had been, it woke her right up.

Leliana stopped in the sunlight, just outside the training ring, and cast a quick glance up at Sera’s window. Now she weren't hiding, it was her room, she could sit in the window and watch folk, but Leliana gave her a _look_ that didn't speak so much as shout _'not today'._ She was busted, yeah, but over what it was hard to say. The spymaster just shook her head real soft and, while Sera was trying to puzzle that parp out, she turned and motioned for somebody to follow her up.

Couldn’t quite see the stairs, not with the whole Herald’s Rest in the way, so there was no telling who Leliana was sneaking in before dawn. It was scandalous, had all the promise of a good story--excepting for that head-shake that still didn’t make sense--and Sera was all eyes and ears. Got too focused on Leliana, though, made her miss out on other things.

“Sioni!” It wasn’t a shout but, in the early quiet, the Heraldquisitor’s voice was like a Chantry bell.

Almost jumped out of her skin with that one--had to scramble so she didn't fall straight out of the window. Ended up perched back like a cat, all wrapped up in blankets, tryin to be inconspicuous like. Fortunately, the only body who spotted her was Leliana.

The Heraldquisitor came running down the steps, arms out and smile as big and beaming as she'd ever seen it. She was dressed in grey and wool, looked weird on her not havin' the face paint and the fur, but might've just woke up. Can't expect her to have her face on all the time, right? She was staring, maybe, just a bit, and totally forgot about Leliana and the body she snuck up the steps. Least, she did until Eydis crossed the yard and scooped up someone small.

She was a big one, the Herald, but Sera could count on one hand how often she just hauled people straight up. Wasn't usual, that, and watchin her snatch up a whole person and spin them right round was jarring. Almost expected her to toss 'em, like maybe they were a big rock or somethin. She didn't, of course--no, instead she started laughin and giggling, bright and happy and lit up like a ray of sunshine. She stopped spinning eventually and Sera got a good look at the person she'd been twirling around. 

It was a kid in her arms, little one, maybe five, six? Hard to call from a distance. Probably a boy, if she had to guess--he was skinny, all knees and elbows, an a mop of curly hair cut real close. Had on a wool cloak and a fur ruff that was enough to puff him up like a lion. Couldn't make out his face from here, not with how close the Herald was holdin him, but she squinted an gave it a go. Eydis started chattin away, talking in Avvarrish rumbly nonsense, but soft-like, and with a lot of fondness. Knew that tone well enough, even if she didn't hear much of it.

Inquisitor had a kid?

She must've asked that part out loud without meaning to because, all of a sudden, _bam_ there was Leliana leaning right over her shoulder. No chainmail meant she was quiet as a shadow.

"That is right."

She goes and says that right by Sera's ear and, again, she's jumping out of her skin. Clocks her head on the window-sill too. Something glassy falls off a shelf on the wall and she's swearin and scrubbing at the knot on her skull as Leliana takes a seat, easy as you like. Spymaster sits all prim and proper, drapes one leg over the other, folds her hands, and Sera does her best impression of someone who weren't just spying shittily.

"His name is _Sioni Solveigson_. He's her son and he's from an Avvar Hold just south of Haven. She requested I bring him here, now that we're safe, since his father was...taken to the Maker's side." Leliana explains without Sera asking which is worrying, at first, considering she's a bloody spymaster and they aren't exactly known for just handing information out. But it's also interesting, since it's about Eydis and Sera hasn't got the stones to go askin about this stuff. Then it's sort of grimy...because it's about Eydis and Sera hasn't got the stones to go askin about this stuff. She must pull a face because Leliana stops telling her things (good and bad, that) and lifts a hand and shakes a finger at her. 

"You know, it is convenient that you were awake," Leliana says, all sweet and easy, like she was about to offer her pancakes and hot chocolate. It's a tone that's got her on edge in a second. Sera's no idiot, that's the voice you use when you want a favor, but not quite--when Leliana uses it, it's got that second meaning, the scary kind. That meaning where you know you're going to do what she's about to ask or knives are gonna start sprouting from uncomfortable places. Nobody is much for surprise knives, least of all Sera, so her whole expression goes sour as Leliana keeps up that singsong. "The Inquisitor had asked me to find someone to take up a new job, and I believe you are the perfect person."

"Yea, right." Does she sound suspicious? Probably, because that shit is suspicious. Especially the bit about the Her Gracious Ladybits givin out jobs, a thing she hasn't never done, not once, not even to bums like Dorian or Solas--but, if that's the story she's peddlin, it might be a favor for the Heraldquisitor she needs. If that's what it is, well, not gonna say no to that, but she's also not about to go pick a hundred elfroot because Leliana caught her snooping. "What's that then?"

"Seeing as the Inquisitor can't delegate all of her work, and we have to have her full attention for some part of the day, someone must keep our guest entertained."

What?

"Wot like a babysitter?" She couldn't have heard that bit right. Caught snooping and get babysitting duty for an Avvar kid? For Eydis's kid? Not one person, not even one, anywhere, ever, would let Sera entertain children. Yeah she still did it, kids were the best, but that didn't mean anybody ever _let_ her. It was a shite idea, really. Absolutely bollocks. "You are askin' _me_ and not..."

Who, the Seeker? Yeah kid would learn to be a buzz kill in no time, but then he could dead lift a druffalo so that's not too bad. Varric? That's a worse idea than her for just about the same reasons. Iron Bull? The kid would be drunk before lunch. Solas? Andraste's Ass that sounds like the most boring punishment ever--fine, maybe she wasn't such a bad choice. She still gives Leliana a look, though, can't have her thinking she's always up for babysitting.

"Yeah, alright, _me_," Sera says and Leliana looks like she just won. She's smug, like a cat who just cornered a bird, and it's hard not to wonder how many knives she's got on her now that could go into uncomfortable places. "Fine, fine, I'll do it."

"Wonderful," she says, like there was a choice, and claps her hands on her knees as she gets up. "I will send someone to fetch you when we have to borrow his mother."

Then she's gone, out the door like a normal person, but Sera never sees her cross the courtyard. She does, cause of course she does, but Sera never sees it and that's gotta be the point. Eydis and the kid are gone when she looks back, probably went for breakfast, and Sera huffs. She likes kids, yea? They're fun, they like pranks and aren't stuffy. Stealin Sioni would have been a priority--can't have him getting boring, right? That would be unfair. Why does it feel like they went and tricked her into somethin awful, then?

**Author's Note:**

> Original Prompt:  
Single!Mom Inquisitor/Sera  
So Sera's not had a great experience, parents-wise. She was an orphan on the streets as a young child, and after that she was raised by an emotionally manipulative and just generally shitty noble. 
> 
> So when the Inquisitor's kid shows up at Skyhold and Sera sees what an absolutely GOOD MOM she is, she gets all sorts of warm fuzzies. Like, she just has a lot of feelings about, omg, look at Inky being so caring, doing so much to actually listen/look after her kid, look how sincerely she loves the kid, SO CUTE OH NO. 
> 
> Feel free to pretty much take any direction with this, whether it is just cute fluff with the Inquisitor + kid + Sera, or whether Sera starts having like MAYBE I WANT TO CO-PARENT feelings, or whether she helps the kid get up to some absolute mayhem. I could imagine it also being very angsty, with Sera dealing with feelings about her own childhood, so also feel free to go down that route!
> 
> If you want to include smut, anything goes as far as that too! It could just be sweet fluffy smut, or if you want, you could include things like mommy kink or age difference (the Inquisitor is probably a fair bit older than Sera, if she has a kid). Anything floats my boat :)


End file.
